Economy
-
Saturday’s good reading and listening for the weekend
What people in other forums are saying about public policy Continue reading »
-
Saturday’s good reading and listening for the weekend
What people in other forums are saying about public policy Continue reading »
-
Saturday’s good reading and listening for the weekend
What people in other forums are saying about public policy. Continue reading »
-
Saturday’s good reading and listening for the weekend
What people in other forums are saying about public policy Continue reading »
-
Saturday’s good reading and listening for the weekend
What people in other forums are saying about public policy Continue reading »
-
Climate Change: will the financial system survive?
One of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal global response to the escalating climate crisis has been the preparedness of financial market regulators to force their regulated institutions to face up to the implications of climate risk. Continue reading »
-
Why don’t farmers just raise wages to get workers?
Are powerful retailers who set farm prices the real problem in keeping wages down? Continue reading »
-
Jeffrey Sachs speech on the state of the world’s “food system” that is rigged against the poor.
We have a world food system but we need a different system, one based on human rights and national sovereignty. The US won’t allow that. Consider the United Fruit Company in Honduras that was backed by the US government and the military and exploited the local population.The US doesn’t even care about it’s own poor. Continue reading »
-
What does Labor offer? Part 2
Part 1 of this article discussed the implications for equity and inequality resulting from Labor’s recanting its previous opposition to the Government’s Stage 3 income tax cuts, as well as dropping its policies to reform the taxation provisions covering capital gains and negative gearing. Part 2 discusses the other major concern; the ability of a Continue reading »
-
Foreign sanctions: Beijing counters Biden’s bullying of Hong Kong
Although China’s anti-foreign-sanctions law is novel, it is a vivid demonstration that the days when the US could bully others with impunity are gone. Continue reading »
-
What does Labor offer? Part 1
Labor’s repudiation of its previous opposition to the Government’s Stage 3 income tax cuts, and its decision to drop its reforms covering the taxation of capital gains and negative gearing raises two major concerns. Continue reading »
-
What goes around comes around: carbon tariffs bite our exports
In his excellent opinion piece, Ross Gittins points out that those posturing against the proposed EU carbon tariffs on our exports are the very people who struck down own effective national greenhouse action. They argued then that that unfair competition from countries who were not acting would impact our industries – so it’s a bit Continue reading »
-
The ALP is supporting stage three tax cuts for the wealthy.
Progressive taxation is the cornerstone of a fair, equitable and just society. Just don’t tell that to the Australian Labor Party. Continue reading »
-
No evidence the US has Australia’s back in its dispute with China, despite all the rhetoric
The US has “got our back”. This talking point is repeated by Australian government ministers with rising fervour, as China continues its campaign of trade punishment against Australia. Think-tank experts and media commentators amplify it further. Continue reading »
-
Ready or not: a carbon price on exports is coming to Australia
Those of us who have at least an elementary grasp of economics would have been astonished at the reasoning of Trade Minister Dan Tehan during his ABC interview last week on The EU’s proposed carbon levy on imports (the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). Continue reading »
-
A drip-feed of scary numbers about the future.
20 years ago, when Peter Costello launched the first Intergenerational Report, he promised that looking four decades ahead would greatly help long-term decision-making and asset allocation. But the aim did not coincide with the reality. Continue reading »
-
Saturday’s good reading and listening for the weekend
What people in other forums are saying about public policy Continue reading »
-
Reforming global trade rules for agriculture: The time has come
According to the recent G7 2021 Summit Declaration: “We stand united in our commitment to free and fair trade … with a modernised rulebook and a reformed World Trade Organization.” Nowhere is a “modernised rules book” more needed than for world agricultural production and trade. Without it, the consequences for Australian farmers will be dreadful. Continue reading »
-
Why do some wealthy people leave money on the table by not buying private hospital insurance?
One in three high-income earners choose not to take out private hospital insurance, even though they could save money by avoiding the Medicare Levy Surcharge. A reason behind this decision is that these individuals are happy to use public hospitals. This suggests that people may be unaware that they are being financially penalised on their Continue reading »
-
RBA Governor’s wages-immigration bomb and how he got it wrong.
RBA Governor Philip Lowe’s speech last week on the Labour Market and Monetary Policy set off a frenzied debate on the impact of immigration on wages. Continue reading »
-
Agriculture industry condemned to becoming a growing centre for exploitation and abuse
The Senate report on temporary migration makes many excellent recommendations, but also misses opportunities. Continue reading »
-
The China push for a cleaner and cooler planet
Not a day passes without our media damning China for some imagined infamy or other. So many stories, so many column inches, and nothing positive to be found. At the same time, our television screens are full of other images; real images of a disaster that is enveloping us all. Continue reading »
-
Newcastle Port decision: overreach, misunderstanding or both?
The Federal Court’s rejection of the ACCCs case against Government-imposed penalties facing Newcastle Port seemed to misunderstand transport policy matters and give more weight to the Government’s latest excuses than to logic and observed actions. Continue reading »
-
NSW rail policy: more than cooking the books
Media reports claimed changes to NSW railways artificially inflated State Budget results. Yet ‘cooked books’ are the least of the concerns. Continue reading »
-
Pegasus-India’s Watergate moment
A journalist hacked by Pegasus says he will survive, but Indian democracy may not. Continue reading »
-
“No one is safe”: phone numbers of 14 world leaders on Pegasus List
The Washington Post on Tuesday revealed that three presidents, 10 prime ministers, and a king are among the more than 50,000 individuals whose phone numbers appeared on a leaked list of potential targets of Pegasus, the military-grade spyware licensed by Israeli firm NSO Group, prompting human rights defenders to call for a global crackdown on the surveillance industry’s invasive technologies. Continue reading »
-
We should thank the unemployed for their service. They’ve been used to control inflation
I want to show you something. It has to do with our economy and it’s probably been invisible to you. The majority of journalists have no idea about it and few politicians would, either. But it affects everyone and it shouldn’t be something only economists know about. Continue reading »
-
Coalition protects wealthy retirees’ investments under cover of Covid-19 pandemic
The Coalition moved to protect the superannuation of Australia’s wealthiest retirees at the same time it was encouraging the nation’s poorest to raid their retirement accounts. And they continue to protect the wealthiest even though the Australian share market is back at record highs. Continue reading »
-
Saturday’s good reading and listening for the weekend
What people in other forums are saying about public policy Continue reading »
-
The Intergenerational Report: helpful, but so much less than it could be
Since the 2021 Intergenerational Report (IGR) was released the media has been bombarding us with its “predictions” and “forecasts”. Just take The Australian’s front-page headline ‘Economic snapshot warns of disaster if we don’t act now’, with the first line reading, “Australians’ average incomes will be $32,000 lower”. Or think of Paul Kelly’s header, ‘Australia sleeping Continue reading »
Top 5 most read
- What Scott Morrison’s really saying by…
We have every reason to expect that Scott Morrison, as… - Democracy in decline: Australia’s slide into…
Australia is at a critical point. A Coalition government that… - Bruce Haigh: We have been used again by America,…
Indonesians wonder why we fear China so much, when they… - John Menadue: Our democracy is decaying from within
We need a summit of community leaders to help chart… - Saturday’s good reading and listening for the weekend
What people in other forums are saying about public policy…
